A test for the best way to preserve wine: CapaBunga, dude!

Readers, last week I drank wine for you. That’s right. In a purely unselfish, magnanimous gesture, I tested the CapaBunga Ultimate Wine Preservation Kit to see if it worked better than the standard vacuum pump and stopper.

And that meant, in the interest of science and discovery, drinking wine.

You are welcome.

The CapaBunga system involves a can of inert gases — argon, nitrogen and carbon dioxide — and a silicone cap that slides over the top of the wine bottle. You slide the needle attached to the can into the neck of the bottle and squeeze a few times. The gas blend is heavier than oxygen, so, according to CapaBunga.com, it settles right on top of the wine to form a barrier against the wine-spoiling oxygen that takes up residence in open bottles.

The vacuum pump works instead by sucking out the oxygen from the bottle, with the stopper stuck inside the neck to keep it from seeping back inside.

On to the test, which I conducted with my BF, a man of science, who helped advise and — more enjoyably for him — helped taste.

The bottles of Josh used for the experiment. (Emily Spicer / San Antonio Express-News)

We used two bottles of Josh 2012 cabernet sauvignon. It’s a decent, party-level wine we were OK risking to the fates.

To start, I poured a glass from each bottle and then stopped them up. The first go with the CapaBunga was tricky. I swooped in with the cap a bit too aggressively after spraying the gas, and the needle came off and fell into the bottle. Luckily, the kit comes with two, and the second time was the charm.

The next night, we opened ’em up, poured a glass of each and tasted them blind. One glass was marked on the bottom and switched around by each of us so we didn’t know which one we were tasting first.

There was only a slight difference, but one glass had a bit more robust flavor and aroma, and it was the CapaBunga glass.

Night No. 2, the differences were much more pronounced. One smelled musty and flat and on the verge, and the other still had a decent bouquet and flavor. CapaBunga again — and the needle came out on this pour!

By night No. 3, both bottles were goners, but the wine from the CapaBunga bottle still had a slightly better flavor than the vacuum.

Clearly, the stuff works, but take note: The can of gas must be stored upright, so storage is trickier than just tossing it into a drawer. Also, the can will have to be replaced after 120 uses, and replacement cans cost $10.95 a pop, plus shipping since the system is sold only online.

The Ultimate Wine Preservation Kit by CapaBunga. (Courtesy photo)

Verdict: Maybe a buy. Open wine doesn’t last long at my house. It’s gone the same night or the next night at the most.

Same with pretty much everyone I know, so I’m not sure who makes up this market of folks who need to preserve a bottle past 24-36 hours. If you’re one of those, this is for you.

At my house, this might come in handy if a meteor crashed through the roof one night and my BF and I decided that instead of finishing the really special, expensive bottle of wine we had been saving and had just opened, we needed to preserve it in order to, I dunno, get help or something. Then it would be awesome to have.